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New Mental Health News Radio Segment 'The Business of Mental Health' Goes Behind the Scenes of One of the Most Underfunded Sectors of Healthcare

WAYNESVILLE, N.C.,
January 20, 2019 (Newswire.com) -
Mental Health News Radio Network is proud to announce "The Business of Mental Health," a new segment on its popular Mental Health News Radio podcast. The segment is co-hosted by David Ballenberger, M.S.W., with behavioral health industry veteran, MHNR Network and Everything EHR CEO Kristin Sunanta Walker. It is the first podcast show of its kind to cover the financial and business side of mental health care in the world.

"The Business of Mental Health" unpacks topics including lack of funding for mental health care, quantity versus quality in mental and behavioral health care and the implications of a move to a value-based payment system for patients, advocates, clinical, administrative and management staff in mental health care organizations. Specifically, the program discusses current and ongoing changes in mental and behavioral health care delivery as a result of value-based payment, including the shift to treatment plans based on patients’ functionality over diagnosis.

Show guests include CEOs of mental health organizations, technology companies that support mental health and innovators in the field of business and technology.

No longer will goals in a treatment plan talk about improving a patient's depression; instead, it will be about helping a patient function with appropriate supports to manage their depression.

Dave Ballenberger, M.S.W.,
podcast co-host

"The Business of Mental Health" will help listeners to better understand these changes and how to navigate them. It is aimed at upper-level and mid-management professionals, politicians and department heads, as well as advocacy groups like the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.

Co-host David Ballenberger said, “Administrators need to understand the world of behavioral health is changing. They are no longer running their little kingdom. They will have to learn how to work with other agencies in creating and implementing quality treatment. Clinical directors will need to focus on having their therapists work with clients to improve function rather than diagnosis. No longer will goals in a treatment plan talk about improving a patient’s depression; instead, it will be about helping a patient function with appropriate supports to manage their depression. Patients will need to become more active in creating and implementing their treatment plan. The plan should be a 24-hour-a-day activity, not a weekly visit with their therapist. Advocacy groups will need to focus on who is receiving treatment. If agencies are going to be paid on the basis of being able to prove a patient improved, they will need to make sure the most chronic individuals are receiving quality services.”

With over 30 years of experience in the residential behavioral health field, Ballenberger is also a founder of behavioral health electronic health records company Next Step Solutions Inc. He began working in human services in 1972 as a live-in dorm counselor for neglected and abused boys. He worked with young people for 25 years, then became executive director at Rose Hill Center, a psychiatric rehabilitation program for mentally ill adults. He has also been very active in NAMI and other advocacy groups.

Contacts

Mental Health News Radio Network is always looking for exceptional hosts. Please contact us at info@mhnrnetwork.com if interested in being a host or podcaster.